After returning to work on Tuesday, volunteering for the United Way’s “Day of Caring” on Thursday, and then skipping out of work early on Friday to attend to a very important matter (of someone else’s) at the courthouse, this week practically flew by!
Saturday dawned bright and early and I drove to my buddy Dwight’s for a long, hilly ride that I was certain would hurt me, as my poor little hamstrings were screaming at me for improperly weeding on Thursday. The ride itself was relatively short – 3 hrs 15 minutes, but my longest since the
Hot Doggett in July. And it seemed as if we tried to hit every long climb possible in a 3 hour radius of his house. I discovered two things: one, my arm can make about 2 hours and 20 minutes before screaming in protest, and two, my old staple of gel-as-fuel for rides of that length is no longer sufficient. I bonked, and boy did it suck. A mere 3 miles from the house we had to stop to buy me a coke, which got me home in much better spirits.
All the climbing on the Saturday ride totally trashed me and I was useless all day long, somewhat concerned about how my legs would react to that as I planned on racing a hill climb time trial up to the top of Chimney Rock Park in Lake Lure, NC (just 20 miles away) on Sunday.
I can’t remember if Dwight told me about the race or if I told him about it, but one thing is certain: the smack talk was frequent and severe. When I smack talk it is usually with full knowledge that I will get creamed by the person I’m handing it to, and this was no exception. This AARP card holder is fast, and always beats me. So when I started 30 seconds after him and could see him up the road on the “flat” section at the beginning, I figured that was the end of it.
I have no odometer, and have never been to Chimney Rock before, despite having lived in the Asheville area for more than seven years and riding by it fairly often. So, I really didn’t know how long the ride would take me – but the grade suited me and I was able to turn the legs over fast and furious. 10 minutes in I was surprised to see Dwight through the trees in a switchback above me, and at 12 minutes I caught him and made the pass. At 20 minutes I was sprinting up the final pitch to the finish line, to the congratulations of the small fleet of volunteers at the top.
Dwight rolled in about 45 seconds later, and fellow Ashevillian and former Coors pro Ned Gallaher and I took turns ribbing him about getting “girled”. After receiving our rewards (Ned & I won our categories, Dwight was 2nd behind Ned), we descended in a bus for about the same amount of time that we climbed, just barely arriving safely at the bottom.
I talked Ned into riding some more with me, “an easy ride around the lake”, while Dwight avoided more of my adventures by going home. After thoroughly preparing myself for an easy 1 hour spin with a small bottle of
Motortabs, Ned & I set off. The first thing that is important to mention is that quite often, I block unpleasant memories out of my mind. So it was to my mild surprise that we hit the first rather steep climb after crossing over the dam. “oh well,” I thought to myself, “I guess I forgot about this one!” And the next, and the next, and the next. And then, I misremembered a turn that sent us up a climb that was harder than the one we TTed up, and made poor Ned ride on gravel on his delicate tubulars. I was dreadfully worried that he would be pissed at me, but we talked cheerfully the whole time and he never seemed concerned in the slightest that I had, er, lost my bearings a bit. Fortunately Ned was a little more prepared than me and he shared a bag of jelly beans that prevented the bonk that threatened to set in. I had a blast riding with him and was so happy to have a partner who took my misdirection in stride.
Dwight on the left, Ned on the right.
With officially tired legs and sore arm (it lasted less time today), I made my way home to “recovery” tacos and a big sodie pop. The interminable pile of housework awaited, although my meowmie had different ideas.
Maxine says "no you may not fold laundry"
